Mad Scientist Malfrost

Nice! Congrats and good luck on the interview!

Based on the email they sent out talking about the timeline that certainly seems to be the case, to quote that email," Coming out of this meeting we will then move to stage two in which we schedule phone or Skype interviews with those applicants that remain under consideration. "

From what I know about short list interviews they are going to want to gauge your interest on why you'd want to go to Vandy over other schools. So you should definitely be able to talk about why you want to go there and that includes faculty you'd like to work with and research you'd like to do. They are basically checking you for fit more than anything else for an interview at that level.

Now that I know Vanderbilt interviews are out there I'm even MORE anxious when I hear my phone buzz. I'm gonna need a lot of meditation to get through today lol

I wouldn't be worried. That depends more or less on the software that the school is using to process applications more than anything else. Sometimes it will never change from Submitted until you get your final decision.

Awesome! Best of luck with the interview! Glad to see that someone can actually claim it so that way we know it is legit. Also, congrats on the UW Madison offer as well!

Congrats to everyone who got accepted into UC Irvine! Glad to see some people getting positive news after so much waiting!

Until someone claims that interview here, I'm skeptical lol

I mean, in theory nothing is stopping you lol Just be careful how you word it if you do. "Did you follow me because I'm going to be admitted into the program?" is a bit heavy handed. If you've talked to them before than reaching out to them should be alright.

So it seems like for me I can move my stressing from the beginning of this month to the middle of this month now that I know at least 3 places on my list aren't planning to release until around the week of the 15th!

I admire your ability to do that as I cannot! Thankfully classes start back up next week for me so I'll be able to focus on that!

I know there is at least one other person here interested in Iowa so for them and anyone else, I went ahead and reached out to my PoI there and they said the committee is in the final review process and expects to release decisions within the next two weeks. I was told to expect to hear back no later than the 19th of this month.

I was opening up my email to write to my PoI when I saw this so thanks for doing this for me! lol

COVID in general is causing a number of delays across various programs. Given that a late January release doesn't seem to be the norm but rather an exception, releasing in the middle of Feb isn't too much of a a delay so I wouldn't stress about it too much! Departments adjusting to being mostly or all online has taken its toll on productivity.

I too am wondering about Emory. I’m thinking of reaching out to my PoI there and asking about what’s up.

Which schools are you planning to contact?

A meme from a facebook group I follow that feels quite on point for us all at the moment.

On to tomorrow indeed, and hopefully no 4 AM rejection notices!

While US News ranking is somewhat important its important to remember that the ranking takes the Department as a whole into consideration. There are some schools where the overall Department ranking might be middling but for one or two subfields it is a really stellar school; not sure what subfield you are in and how USC looks for that fields either but never take the ranking as some end all, be all definer of how good the program is.

True but then I have to stay stressed all day. I’m trying to give myself a break here lol

CST is the last time zone for me so it means I can stop looking at my phone, try to relax and prepare myself to wake up and do this whole thing again tomorrow lol

That's a pretty good sign I think! We take what we can get! As a fellow Chicago and Emory applicant, hopefully we both get good news soon? Out of curiosity, which subfield are you?

Well, my watch shows 5:00 EST which means I made it through today with no news. Iowa technically still has an hour to get to me before end of business but I won't hold my breath! For those still waiting on West Coast news, good luck and congrats to the people that did get good news today!

There is no escaping the anxiety, no matter what we do it seems! Tis our lot in life until decision season is over!

???